Joel 2:1-17

Blow a trumpet in Zion;

sound an alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,

2 a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness there is spread upon the

mountains a great and powerful people;

their like has never been before,

nor will be again after them

through the years of all generations.

3 Fire devours before them,

and behind them a flame burns.

The land is like the garden of Eden be-

fore them, but behind them a desolate

wilderness, and nothing escapes them.

4 Their appearance is like the appear-

ance of horses,

and like war horses they run.

5 As with the rumbling of chariots,

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

like the crackling of a flame of fire

devouring the stubble,

like a powerful army drawn up for battle.

6 Before them peoples are in anguish;

all faces grow pale.

7 Like warriors they charge;

like soldiers they scale the wall.

They march each on his way;

they do not swerve from their paths.

8 They do not jostle one another;

each marches in his path;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

9 They leap upon the city,

they run upon the walls,

they climb up into the houses,

they enter through the windows like

a thief.

10 The earth quakes before them;

the heavens tremble.

The sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.

11 The Lord utters his voice

before his army,

for his camp is exceedingly great;

he who executes his word is powerful.

For the day of the Lord is great and

very awesome; who can endure it?

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

“return to me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with

mourning;

13 and rend your hearts and not your

garments.”

Return to the Lord your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in stead-

fast love; and he relents over disaster.

14 Who knows whether he will not turn

and relent,

and leave a blessing behind him,

a grain offering and a drink offering

for the Lord your God?

1115 Blow the trumpet in Zion;

consecrate a fast;

call a solemn assembly;

16 gather the people.

Consecrate the congregation;

assemble the elders;

gather the children,

even nursing infants.

Let the bridegroom leave his room,

and the bride her chamber.

17 Between the vestibule and the altar

let the priests, the ministers of

the Lord, weep

and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,

and make not your heritage a reproach,

a byword among the nations.

Why should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’”

(ESV)